November 29, 2023 – Corps résonants / Resonant Bodies
Touch-sensitive, multimedia installation & performance
Cité internationale des arts – Paris
Corps Résonants is a touch-sensitive, interactive multimedia installation by Tom Gurin. Visitors are asked to participate in the experience, and are kindly asked to keep a low speaking volume inside the space.
The work aims to blur our sonic, visual, and tactile (i.e. physical) perceptions of vibration through the human body.
At the heart of the work is a simple, analog feedback loop formed between two microphones and two speakers, all of which are placed on top of a large, flexible, wooden board. The wood physically filters the feedback, absorbing a portion of the frequencies that the speakers produce.
By stepping onto and walking around the board at the center of the room, participants add the resonances of their own bodies to those of the wood. Depending on how and where you position yourself on the surface, the smallest changes in pressure will immediately (and almost unpredictably) alter the pitch, tone, and volume of the feedback loop by redirecting frequencies into your body that would otherwise radiate through the air. Instead of hearing some of the resonances, you will feel them.
As you change the sound, you will also change the video that is projected from above. The video is programmed to respond to variations in the feedback loop in real time.
Featuring performances by Owen Moran.
